The UK government recently told GCHQ (state security) that it could monitor all communication on social media, Skype calls, and email, and log every site visited by British internet users. (Guardian 27 April 2012).
As we now know the “security ” industry is the only fast growing industry in the Western world, but speaking for myself I would rather be unemployed than be paid to monitor the crass blatherings of people on facebook*, a service that represents the biggest waste of time ever invented, designed to take people’s minds off how lonely, poor and over-stressed they are. Good luck to the snoopers. May they, like, be bored out of their little minds.
I would rather be having a conversation about real life with a real person, in my real garden, surrounded by flowers and trees, and free of texting and gormless messaging. But then, I am old-fashioned.
Meanwhile the lack of privacy remains one of the greatest threats to the human race.
* Only 29% of the information facebook possesses on you is available to your friends who visit your site. Think about that. The wise will think twice about what they post.
A wag recently pointed out how disfunctional modern social interaction is when Mark Zuckerburg has to create a huge, worldwide network in order to connect with the guy in the next room.
One of the greatest threats to the human race.?
I hope you mean the greatest threat after global warming;
pandemics (15million people were killed in 1918-20 from the last major pandemic of bird flu);
the meteor due to colide with us in 2080 which they are monitoring as we speak, wondering how to change it’s course;
the likelihood that the Yellowstone National Park will erupt soon because it is due to and magma is rising there as we speak (‘ -they’ are monitoring that too);
Likewise the earthquake due to occur up your west coast; Not to mention the
possibility that some rogue state (we won’t mention names – ‘they’ may be listening )
could use a nuclear weapon if they become any more peeved.
Having Facebook and twitter etc monitored by the thought police remind us of 1984,
But I think, relative to the above, we can cope.
This a very relativistic comment. The fact is we can do nought about volcanoes and earthquakes, but we need to stop electing repressive governments full of control freaks. This is why retiring to the Garden in fact and in thought, is the only answer.
The only answer? Shouldn’t we be agitating , and ‘afflicting the comfortable ‘ in some way in order to alert the sleep walking public to ‘one of the greatest threats to the human race’ viz: repressive governments? If we don’t, are we not as culpable?
(Or nearly so)
Retiring to the garden is tantamount to “walking by on the other side”.
On second thoughts, what’s the point -no one is going to listen!
I’m listening. It’s the government that isn’t.